Why I Thank the Bully

Andrew R. Duckworth

I thank them for pealing
Away my thin skin
And clothing me
With sun-baked hide.

I thank them for letting
Me know how a stab wound feels,
So I can remove the knife
Myself a time in the future.

I thank them for educating
Me in self defense.
Hear no evil, speak no evil,
Do no evil.

I thank them for forgiving
Me of my many misdeeds.
God knows it, so do they,
I was no saint.

But I’ll thank God
If I think of them today
For the way in which
Our lives He’s changed.